Squier 40th Anniversary Telecaster - Are these worth a look for under $400 new?

I bought one a few months ago. It honestly has the best neck and playability of any Tele I've ever played. That's includes American and MIM. I love this guitar.

As my brother and I always say, "I'm not shopping for a guitar, I'm shopping for a neck." If the neck feels just right to you, pretty much everything else could be fixed later -- especially on a Tele, which is a wonderfully simple design that gets the job done! The looks in this case are a definite bonus for me. Great combination. Just too bad about those pots, which probably use two linear segments for the taper. That's getting more common even in mid-price guitars. My newer used MIM Tele probably exhibits that "fall off the cliff" a lot more than my older Squiers, but I must admit I almost never use my volume pot except as a "mute", and my tone pot is "set and forget". Thanks for reviewing a guitar in my budget range! Though honestly, I'd probably still wait to get one used... :)

Great review - thanks man - tried one earlier today and thinking about it

I really aprreciated your informative and honest opinion. I already bought the Mocha one, but I found your review very useful.

Just bought one today new for 298€ and it's great sounding and the neck feels fantastic! Great playing by the way!

just got one..in Malaysia..just love it! what a piece of great equipment

Solid review. Thanks.

I've just pressed buy now on Red 40th. Simply I was blown away by its looks, so I'm more than prepared to upgrade as I see fit , but I'll trust you on the new pots and order them now and swap out because I see what you mean about them not bringing the full range of tone from the pickup others may straight blame the pickups . Ace great stuff man. That guitar looks good on ya .!

Great review and playing, as ever. Like you say, such minor and easily fixable/inexpensive issues so for a little money you can get a decent amount of guitar it seems - which is never a bad thing!

Thanks I Bought a Used , Ineptly Modified One, But was Abused and Missing alot of the Stock Parts , So I am On the Fence About Returning it and Paying a Little More Money and Getting a Factory Stock Version

I bought a butterscotch ex-demo one recently for a really good price. It did have a few issues with some of the nut slots, a couple of high frets (and one that wasn't seated properly). Once I got it set up professionally, its a fantastic guitar, easily on a par with any Fender Teles I've owned in the past. I'm ok with the pickups but, as you advised, I will change out the pots and wiring, and easy mod that will pay off.

Beautiful playing!

Nice playing, my friend. Many guitarists avoid Gb major. You sounded great. Great video by the way. Cheers…

Last year I got an squier affinity tele made in 2021, it has the belly contour and string trough the body, saddles are individual, its a great guitar for the money, the neck is fantastic for me at least, the only problem I have is that it tends to neck dive a little and the pick ups are very quiet, but it's not that bad. Great video as always man!

That pricing i can get behind. Squier has done a great job with the finishes. I love the look of the line.

I recently got the 40th Vintage Strat -- the pickups were dark, esp. the neck, so I swapped the volume pot for a 500K, snipped the jumper that ties the middle pickup to the bridge tone control and gave it s road test. Bridge was too bright so I soldered in a balancing resistor at the selector switch (as you would of you had a humbucker and single coils) and it was a touch better. Installed a steel base plate on the bridge and, despite my tendency to over praise my own efforts wiring wise, it genuinely sounds great. For less than $10 and my time. Here's another: ditch the typical tone cap values, try an .015 cap, or .012 if you cant find a 5. The roll off will give you more possibilities and rolled all the way off you're very close to a cocked wah sound rather than that over damped "thru a sleeping bag" sound that's not terribly useful. (Altho that very dark tone is amazing thru a fuzz or a distortion pedal.)

I also snagged a red one from the samick factory. Plays and sounds like a much more espensive axe. i paid 270.00. only tele ill ever need, gotta change a couple tings mon'. Gonna take the neck pick up out of the tone circuit to cure the muddiness, replace the pots, put a different bridge on it so it will tune down a whole step. Right now i got compensated brass barrel saddles i installed and it will tune up in standard perfectly intonated. Diggin this axe... 😊

The one Classic Vibe I picked up to look at was quite heavy in spite of the pine body. Everything else was quite well done. My MIM Tele's are both around 7.2 lbs.

If it's essentially the same as the Classic Vibe...get one...used for around $300. Mine is heavy, well made, and with Lindy Fralin's...sounds GREAT. My son's 60's CV Baritone is also super nice. Tuners are crappy on both though...replaced mine. Scotch Brited my neck.....and I liked the brass comp'd saddles I added too...now a $600 guitar that plays like a $1600 guitar.

Nice guitar, like the satin finish on the neck. At 9:14 maybe check inside that there's no Volume Pot Capacitor there. These are common, and if so, then snip it off and you will find better overall resolution when adjusting the pot's magnitude.